Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Purchases Shares of 106,422 Green Plains, Inc. $GPRE

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Green Plains, Inc. (NASDAQ:GPRE) during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 106,422 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,637,000.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in GPRE. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Green Plains during the 2nd quarter valued at $156,703,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Green Plains by 15.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,696,401 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $46,025,000 after purchasing an additional 645,170 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,629,815 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $25,772,000 after purchasing an additional 85,982 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Green Plains by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 2,187,541 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock valued at $21,438,000 after purchasing an additional 10,237 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its position in shares of Green Plains by 112.6% during the 4th quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 1,823,740 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $17,873,000 after purchasing an additional 966,069 shares in the last quarter.

Green Plains Stock Performance

Shares of GPRE opened at $14.66 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $16.03 and a 200 day moving average of $15.74. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 9.22 and a beta of 1.17. Green Plains, Inc. has a 12 month low of $8.65 and a 12 month high of $19.65. The company has a current ratio of 1.99, a quick ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Green Plains (NASDAQ:GPRE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.83 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.54 by $0.29. Green Plains had a net margin of 6.78% and a return on equity of 14.52%. The firm had revenue of $446.22 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $542.38 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($1.09) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Green Plains, Inc. will post 2.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on GPRE. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Friday, August 7th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Green Plains in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $20.00 target price on shares of Green Plains in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Green Plains from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Green Plains from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $15.43.

About Green Plains

Green Plains Inc is a leading producer of fuel-grade ethanol and related co-products in the United States. Headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, the company operates an integrated network of biorefineries that convert corn and other grains into renewable fuels. Through its production facilities, Green Plains supplies ethanol to domestic fuel markets and export channels, supporting efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and promote cleaner-burning transportation options.

Beyond ethanol, Green Plains manufactures a range of co-products that add value throughout the agricultural supply chain.